This week (February 13-19) in literary history – Cotton Mather
died (February 13, 1728); Oscar Wilde’s The
Importance of Being Earnest premiered in London (February 14, 1895);
Charles Dickens is celebrated in New York City at the Boz Ball (February 14,
1842); Fyodor Dostoyevsky married Anna Snitkina (February 15, 1867); Novelist
Richard Ford was born (February 16, 1944); J.D. Salinger married Claire Douglas
(February 17, 1955); Moliere died (February 17, 1673); Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was
published (February 18, 1885); Novelist Toni Morrison was born (February 18,
1931); William Faulkner completed Light
in August (February 19, 1932); Nobel
prize winning author Andre Gide died (February 19, 1951)
Highlighted story of
the week -
On February 18, 1885, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published. Twain (the pen
name of Samuel Clemens) first introduced Huck Finn as the best friend of Tom
Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Though Twain saw Huck's story
as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the new novel was far more serious,
focusing on the institution of slavery and other aspects of life in the
antebellum South.
At the book's heart is the journey of Huck and his friend
Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on a raft. Jim runs away
because he is about to be sold and separated from his wife and children, and
Huck goes with him to help him get to Ohio and freedom. Huck narrates the story
in his distinctive voice, offering colorful descriptions of the people and
places they encounter along the way. The most striking part of the book is its
satirical look at racism, religion and other social attitudes of the time. While
Jim is strong, brave, generous and wise, many of the white characters are
portrayed as violent, stupid or simply selfish, and the naive Huck ends up
questioning the hypocritical, unjust nature of society in general. Aside from
its controversial nature and its continuing popularity with young readers, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has
been hailed by many serious literary critics as a masterpiece. No less a judge
than Ernest Hemingway famously declared that the book marked the beginning of
American literature: "There was nothing before. There has been nothing as
good since."
Check back every
Friday for a new installment of “This Week in Literary History.”
Michael Thomas Barry is the author of six nonfiction books
that includes the award winning Literary Legends of the British Isles and the
recently published America’s Literary Legends. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for
more information. His books can be purchased from Amazon through the following
links:
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